Oil well slip handle with rotatable components

ABSTRACT

An oil well slip handle has essentially three mutually rotatable parts constituting a virtually indestructible heavy duty slip handle. A central holding unit has a rigid core and opposite ends formed with bearing raceways that aid in making swivel connections with a removable hand grip and a removable attachment element structured for securement to a slip body. The attachment element and hand grip are interchangeable.

lluited States Patent [1 1 Clark Aug. 114, 1973 1 OIL WELL SLIP HANDLE WITH ROTATABLE COMPONENTS [76] Inventor: Harold C. Clark, 3486 N. Ventura Ave., Ventura, Calif. 93001 22 Filed: Aug. 21, 1972 211 App]. No.: 282,408

[52] US. Cl. 24/263 BA [51] Int. Cl A44b 21/00 [58] Field of Search 24/263 HA, 243 B; 16/110 R, 114 R [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 648,983 5/1900 Niemeyer 16/114 R 814,020 3/1906 Clifford 16/110 R I 4/1924 McGarry 24/263 HA 2,290,336 7/1942 Kirby 16/1 10 R X 3,155,414 11/1964 Bales 16/114 R X 3,268,968

8/1966 Crickmer 24/263 HA Primary Examiner-Donald A. Griffin Attorney-Pastoriza & Kelly [5 7] ABSTRACT An oil well slip handle has essentially three mutually rotatable parts constituting a virtually indestructible heavy duty slip handle.

A central holding unit has a rigid core and opposite ends formed with bearing raceways that aid in making swivel connections with a removable hand grip and a removable attachment element structured for securement to a slip body. The attachment element and hand grip are interchangeable.

7 Claims, 3 Drawing Figures PATENTEU Alli; 1 41975 PRIOR ART BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention generally relates to heavy duty handles and more specifically relates to slip handles for oil well drilling rigs. In particular this invention relates to copending application Ser. No. 241,660, filed Apr. 6, 1972.

Oil well drilling rigs employ a string of drill pipe composed of individual pipe sections linked together in end-to-end alignment. In order to assemble and disassemble the string of drill pipe, a slip is customarily used to releasably clamp a lower pipe section and prevent it from descending while an immediately upper pipe section is being coupled or uncoupled.

A slip is generally torus shaped and constructed from a circular array of hinged arcuate sections that can be closed to surround and clampingly engage a pipe section or opened for removal.

To move the slip arcuate sections between their closed and opened positions they are ordinarily equipped with slip handles that are molded or cast into integral rigid units.

Rigid integral handles are prone to damage or destruction upon being subjected to severe blows, since they are incapable of absorbing much shock and enduring much strain.

Moreover, rigid integral handles may often be uncomfortable for the roughneck or workman to grasp and manipulate. Rigid integral handles also pose safety hazards and can be partially responsible for wrist sprains and arm injuries resulting from sudden jolts. These conventional handles cannot yield by rotation and this resistance increases the risk of injury.

Some effort has been undertaken to alleviate some of the above-mentioned problems as indicated by the slip handle disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,268,968 to Crickmer.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Briefly stated this invention comprehends an oil well slip handle that is easy and safe to use, has essentially three rotatable components and is virtually indestructible.

In its broader aspects the slip handle incorporates a central holding unit, a hand grip unit swivelly and removably coupled to the other end of the central holding unit. The attachment element is structured for securement to a slip body and the hand grip element includes a closed loop bar for grasping that is preferably triangular in shape.

The central unit includes a rigid core constructed of durable material and a pair of axially aligned and spaced fasteners that extend from the rigid core and are connected to the hand grip unit and attachment element.

The mutually outermost portions of the fasteners are formed with annular grooves constituting raceways. The hand grip unit and attachment element are formed with sleeves sized to slide over the fastener outermost portions to cover this corresponding raceways. Bearing elements such as set screws with oval heads are coupled to the sleeves and arranged so oval shaped heads project into the raceways.

The fasteners are substantially identically constructed and are mutually interchangeable.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The numerous benefits and unique aspects of the.

present invention will be fully understood when the following detailed description is studied in conjunction with the drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective sectional view of a prior art oil well slip, showing three slip handles constructed in accordance with this invention secured to the slip;

FIG. 2 is a perspective, exploded view, showing details of the three primary mutually rotatable components of the slip handle; and,

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a second embodiment of the attachment element.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring to FIG. 1 a portion of a conventional slip Ill) is shown. A slip body 11 has a number of sections l2, l3 and 14 which are coupled together by hinge and pin assemblies 15 and 16 and are swung to relatively open positions. Anchoring posts l7, l8 and 19 are mounted to top parts of the slip body sections l2, l3 and 14 respectively.

Coupled within the anchoring posts 17, 18 and 19 are three slip handles 20 constructed in accordance with this invention. The slip handles 20 are pivotally secured within their corresponding anchoring posts by way of heavy duty transverse pins.

Referring to FIG. 2 the slip handle 20 has three primary components including a central holding unit 21, a hand grip unit 22 that can be swivelly and removably coupled to one end of the holding unit 21 and an attachment element 23 that can be likewise swivelly and removably coupled to the opposite end of the central holding unit 21.

The attachment element 23 has a single engagement lug 24 through which a transverse hole 25 is formed to receive a heavy duty pin so that the slip handle 20 can be pivotally secured to a slip body in a manner shown in FIG. I. The attachment element 23 includes a hollow sleeve 26 in whose side wall three or more threaded apertures 27 are formed for receiving three or more corresponding bearing elements 28. Each bearing element 28 is a socket headed set screw having an oval tip or head 29.

The hand grip unit 22 has a closed loop bar 30 of triangular shape for grasping by a roughneck or other workman. A hollow sleeve 31 has an opening 32 and three or more internally threaded holes 33. Three or more bearing elements in the form of set screws 34 with oval heads 35 are structured to coact with corresponding transverse holes 33.

The central holding unit 21 is constructed from durable material such as steel, aluminum, high strength plastic, alloy material or the like. The central holding unit 211 has a pair of identically constructed and interchangeable fasteners 36 and 37 that are coaxially aligned and extend from opposite sides of a rigid core 45. A portion of the rigid core 45 is broken away to indicate that it is solid throughout and not hollow. The fasteners 36 and 37 are formed at their mutually outermost portions with stubby cylindrical blocks 38 and 39 that are sized to fit within hollow sleeves 31 and 26 respectively. Blocks 3% and 39 are formed with annular grooves 40 and 411 that constitute raceways to receive radially inwardly projecting oval heads 35 and 29 respectively. When sleeves 26 and 31 are slipped over the blocks 38 and 39 and the set screws 28 and 34 are adjusted with the oval heads 29 and 35 projecting into their corresponding raceways, then both the attachmcnt element and hand grip 22 become swivelly coupled to the central holding unit 21.

Thedual swivel coupling permits hand grip 22 and/or central holding unit 21 to yield out of the way by rotation on occasions when the handle 21 is struck for example by a sharp jolt.

The fasteners 36 and 37 are integrally formed with the opposing ends 42 and 43 of the cylindrically shaped rigid core 45.

Under some circumstances it is desirable that the central holding unit 21 be spring biased and flexible about its longitudinal center as explained in copending application Ser. No. 24l,660 filed Apr. 6, 1972, for an Oil Well Slip Handle." However, under other circumstances where the slip handle is expected to be exposed to greater punishment the middle portion should be stiff and rigid rather than flexible. In fact, the overall central holding unit 21 can be substituted for or replaced by a central holding unit capable of flexing, depending primarily on the intended use and environment. In situations where the force and impact is expected to be relatively great then a central holding unit 21 with a stiff central portion is preferred in order to minimize the risk of rupture or breakage. Upon impact the hand grip unit 22 will rotate relative to the central holding unit 21 and attachment element. In a similar manner, if a force causes the central holding unit 21 to become torqued, then it will be permitted to rotate relative to at least the attachment element 23.

Referring now to FIG. 3 an alternative or substitute attachment element 60 has a pair of engagement lugs 61 and 62 rather than a single engagement lug as is disclosed in connection with the FIG. 2 embodiment. The engagement lugs 61 and 62 have transverse holes 63 and 64 through which a common heavy duty pivot pin may be inserted to secure the attachment element 60 to a corresponding anchoring post of a slip body. The

hollow sleeve 65 and bearing elements 66 are identical with the hollow sleeve 26 and bearing elements 28 of the FIG. 2 embodiment.

Attachment element 60 and attachment element 23 are interchangeable so that the slip handle 20 of this invention may be used with different styles of conventional slips. For example, one well known type of slip, produced by the Braash-Ross Co. (e.g., see US. Pat. No. 3,268,968 to Crickler) has dual anchoring posts with which attachment element 23 may be used. Another type of well known conventional slip produced by Varco Co. uses a single anchoring post with which the attachment element 60 may be used.

OPERATION Keeping the above constructions in mind it can be understood how disadvantages of conventional slip handles are overcome or substantially eliminated by the present invention.

Slip handle 20 is very versatile and can be used in conjunction with various conventional slips used in conjunction with oil well drilling rigs. If the conventional slip is of the type where dual anchoring posts are employed, then an attachment element 23 with a single engagement lug 24 can be swivelly secured to the central holding unit 21. If the conventional slip is of the type where single anchoring posts are employed, then an attachment element with dual engagement lugs 61 and 62 should be secured to the slip handle 20. If, alternatively, the slip has one or more anchoring posts of different construction or geometry than those mentioned above, an attachment element can be configured to mate with it and swivelly coupled to the same central holding unit 21.

After the three or more slip handles 20 are secured to the slip, in a manner shown in FIG. I for example, the slip handles 20 may be used for the customary purposes.

If a sharp jolt is applied to a slip handle 20 it will yield by rotation for safety purposes. Inasmuch as the hand grip unit 22 is swivelly connected to the central holding unit 21, a workman may be able to obviate injury that otherwise would occur if the slip handle were a rigid integral unit.

From the foregoing it will be evident that the present invention has provided an oil well slip handle in which all of the various advantages are fully realized.

What is claimed is:

1. A heavy duty oil well slip handle assembly, comprising:

a. An oil well slip handle central holding unit having a rigid core constructed of durable material and a pair of axially aligned and mutually interchangeable fasteners extending from opposite ends of the rigid core;

b. An oil well slip handle attachment element removably coupled to one fastener of the central holding unit and structured for securement to a slip body;

c. An oil well slip handle hand-grip unit swivelly coupled to the other fastener of the central holding unit, the fasteners being removably coupled to the hand-grip unit and attachment element; and

d. A closed loop bar for grasping, secured to the hand grip unit.

2. The structure according to claim 1, wherein:

the rigid core is of cylindrical shape.

3. The structure according to claim 2, wherein:

the bearing means includes at least three set screws engaged through the sleeve wall with oval heads projecting into the raceway.

4. The structure according to claim 1, wherein:

the outermost portion of the fastener connected to the hand grip unit is formed with an annular groove constituting a raceway;

the hand grip unit has a sleeve slid over the fastener outermost portion to cover the raceway; and,

bearing means is provided in the raceway to assist in permitting swivelling action between the hand grip unit and the central holding unit.

5. The structure according to claim 1, wherein:

the outermost portion of the fastener connected to the attachment element is formed with an annular groove constituting a raceway;

the attachment element has a sleeve slid over the fastener outermost portion to cover the raceway; and,

bearing means is provided in the raceway to assist in permitting swivel action between the attachment element and central holding unit.

6. The structure according to claim 1, wherein:

the mutually outermost portions of the fasteners are formed with annular grooves constituting raceways;

the hand grip unit has a sleeve slid over a fastener outermost portion to cover the associated raceway;

the attachment element has a sleeve slid over the other fasteners outermost portion to cover the associated raceway; and,

bearing means is provided in each raceway to assist in permitting'the attachment element and hand grip unit to swivel relative to the central holding by way of their attachment elements. 

1. A heavy duty oil well slip handle assembly, comprising: a. An oil well slip handle central holding unit having a rigid core constructed of durable material and a pair of axially aligned and mutually interchangeable fasteners extending from opposite ends of the rigid core; b. An oil well slip handLe attachment element removably coupled to one fastener of the central holding unit and structured for securement to a slip body; c. An oil well slip handle hand-grip unit swivelly coupled to the other fastener of the central holding unit, the fasteners being removably coupled to the hand-grip unit and attachment element; and d. A closed loop bar for grasping, secured to the hand grip unit.
 2. The structure according to claim 1, wherein: the rigid core is of cylindrical shape.
 3. The structure according to claim 2, wherein: the bearing means includes at least three set screws engaged through the sleeve wall with oval heads projecting into the raceway.
 4. The structure according to claim 1, wherein: the outermost portion of the fastener connected to the hand grip unit is formed with an annular groove constituting a raceway; the hand grip unit has a sleeve slid over the fastener outermost portion to cover the raceway; and, bearing means is provided in the raceway to assist in permitting swivelling action between the hand grip unit and the central holding unit.
 5. The structure according to claim 1, wherein: the outermost portion of the fastener connected to the attachment element is formed with an annular groove constituting a raceway; the attachment element has a sleeve slid over the fastener outermost portion to cover the raceway; and, bearing means is provided in the raceway to assist in permitting swivel action between the attachment element and central holding unit.
 6. The structure according to claim 1, wherein: the mutually outermost portions of the fasteners are formed with annular grooves constituting raceways; the hand grip unit has a sleeve slid over a fastener outermost portion to cover the associated raceway; the attachment element has a sleeve slid over the other fastener''s outermost portion to cover the associated raceway; and, bearing means is provided in each raceway to assist in permitting the attachment element and hand grip unit to swivel relative to the central holding unit.
 7. The structure according to claim 1, including: a slip body with multiple interconnected sections; and, slip handles connected to all of the slip body sections by way of their attachment elements. 